'Due to Corona'... Multicultural Marriages Plummeted 35% Last Year

2020 Multicultural Population Dynamics Statistics

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seonhee] Last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic restricting international travel, the number of multicultural marriages in South Korea sharply declined.

According to the "2020 Multicultural Population Dynamics Statistics" released by Statistics Korea on the 8th, multicultural marriages last year totaled 16,177 cases, a decrease of about 34.6% compared to the previous year (24,721 cases). This is the lowest figure since related statistics began being compiled in 2008. The total number of marriages last year was 214,000, down 10.7% over the same period, but the decline in multicultural marriages was relatively larger.

Looking at the trend in multicultural marriages over the past 10 years, the number steadily decreased after 2010 (35,098 cases), then showed an increasing trend for three consecutive years starting in 2016 (21,709 cases). In 2019, it rose to 24,721 cases, but due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, it dropped by about 8,500 cases in one year. A Statistics Korea official explained, "It appears that the number of multicultural marriages decreased because international travel was restricted due to the COVID-19 situation."

The types of multicultural marriages were foreign wives (66.4%), foreign husbands (18.7%), and naturalized citizens (14.9%) in that order. Compared to one year ago, marriages with foreign wives decreased by 2.9 percentage points, while marriages involving naturalized citizens increased by 1.4 percentage points.

The average age at first marriage for husbands in multicultural marriages was 36.0 years, and for wives, 29.2 years. Among multicultural couples, 75.7% were husband-older couples, and couples where the husband was 10 years or more older accounted for 34.2%, a decrease of 7.8 percentage points from the previous year.

The countries of origin for foreign and naturalized wives in multicultural marriages were Vietnam at 23.5%, followed by China (21.7%) and Thailand (10.7%).

The number of multicultural divorces last year was 8,685, down 12.0% from the previous year.

Multicultural births numbered 16,421, a decrease of 8.5% over the same period. However, as the total number of births sharply declined, the proportion of multicultural births increased by 0.1 percentage points to 6.0%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.